[planet_rocker]

@ Singhji - please update.

When do we get an audition?

[razor4077]

Install has been done, and I've taken lots of pics. Bear with me for a bit, because I am down with fever now - will do the write-up/pictorial soon.

Quick first impression of the new setup - AWESOME

[shreyasma]

Originally Posted by razor4077

Bear with me for a bit, because I am down with fever now

Is it because of ICE Virus??

Just a PJ. Take care friend. We wish you a speedy recovery.

[razor4077]

4Ga/25 sq. mm L&T power cable for the mono. Thanks, @me_sid for sourcing it for me!








Day 1:
The first step was to take out all the existing wiring in the car. I wanted to ensure the wiring was done absolutely right - old and new.



Head unit wiring being fitted






Clarion HU being fitted.

[razor4077]

Old and new power cables fitted (but not connected at this point). The power cables and the remote turn-on wire have been run down the left of the car, while the speaker cables and RCAs are on the right.





Old midbass spacer rings were in pathetic state, and were chucked.



Right front door damping was also not in great shape.



Illusion Carbon crossover in all its naked glory!



Tweeter cup being test-fitted on the wing mirror sail panel.



New MDF spacer rings being fitted.



Carbon midbass being fitted.




Tweeter being fitted.



Tweeter wiring being fitted to wiring from crossover.



An interesting clip-like thigie to secure the wires and ensure a steady contact. First time I saw something like this.



Black-taped for added robustness!



Tweeter fitted. However, I didn't like the positioning, and got it re-fitted.

[razor4077]

Old parcel tray taken out. Notice the "LANSAR"?



We used the old tray as a template to cut out damping material for the parcel tray frame.




New parcel tray, in black carpeting and without any rear fill holes fitted after the base was damped.



Torn damping from front right door being removed.



The door after being damped afresh.



Front left door damping was intact - no changes needed here.



Trunk-lid being damped.



Front door pads being damped. I figured we needed to provide some added "protection" against the Carbons



Wiring pulled to the boot, waiting to be fitted.

[razor4077]

Work begins on cutting, crimping and soldering the relevant wires. Very thorough job done on this - no splicing and attaching with black tape!



Test-fitting and planning the amp install.



The amp board, fitted in the trunk after being damped. Picture taken from inside the cabin.



Groud Zero sub being wired.



Sub inserted into the sealed box.



Sub being screwed in place. I had got a sub-grille, but unfortunately it was touching the rubber ring around the sub. So, it was not fixed - will work out something on this front soon.



Power cables in the engine bay. The GZ amp has a 40A AWG fuse, while the Infinity mono has a 60A ANL fuse. The wiring has been very neatly arranged in the engine bay, and the fuses have been bolted on in easily accessible spots (not a very good picture - will take a better one later).



Amp-board fitted with amps, wiring completed.



New custom-made trunk floor panel. The spare tyre is 205mm, which is much wider than the stock Lancer tyres. Hence, the centre of floor-board used to jut out in the middle, creating an undulating floor in the trunk. I had the idea of having a panel made, which was raised enough to accomodate the extra wide tyre.



To make things a little convenient for myself in case a tyre change is required, the floor panel is hinged, and has a handle that one can use to access the tyre. Turned out pretty neat.



The lower parts of the floor at the sides can be used to hold a hydraulic jack box, tool-kit etc. The height difference won't allow them to roll around in the boot.

Sub in sealed box put into the boot. Note the Neutrik connector being used. The sub wire is long enough to allow me to take it out of the boot and keep it on the ground in case, say, a tyre change is needed. In case I have any trips planned that will require the boot to be used for luggage, I can simply disconnect the sub and leave it at home.




Unfortunately, I don't have any more pics. A combination of poor health and poor weather prevented me from taking better pics of the finished install. Will do so soon and share them here.

The install was carried out at Glix. My heartfelt thanks to Karan, who helped me conceptualize and of course implement the install. His technicians worked tirelessly over two days through some inclement weather to get things done in time, and done well. The finishing has been very neat and practical. Great job Glix - thanks!

[razor4077]

Spent the last couple of days trying to come to grips with the new system and tune it somewhat. Apart from the GZ amp, everything in the setup is new, and hence will take me some time to understand their nuances.
The Clarion HU, in particular, has lots of features which I have never used before - for example, Time Alignment. The user interface on the HU is also very different from the Alpines and Pioneers that I am used to. So, taking a little time to explore all its features, and for the first time I actually read the user manual

Shuvc helped me tune the system initially and Xeta dropped by today to add his inputs. Currently, it is sounding very nice, but I still have some fine-tuning to do. Will probably have to increase the gains on the Carbons slightly and reduce the sub gain a bit. Time to experiment and let my ears decide...!

The Carbons are quite something. Amazing clarity, brilliant sound reproduction. I don't have the technical know-how to put it down very scientifically, but in plain English, they sound awesome! I am hearing minor details in some tracks that I have never heard before. No exaggerations. Definitely a big step-up from the Electras, which, in their own right are great speakers. Are they 5 times better, going by their pricing? No clue - all I know is that they sound heavenly!

Need to tune the mono+ GZ Radioactive sub a bit more, but the combo sounds very promising. Plays low, plays fast, plays crisp. No boominess and gels well with the Carbons.

Time alignment is something I was looking forward to, but it takes some getting used to. After so many years of listening to setups without TA, the TA-wala system seems different. You get kinda confused initially - Why is the sub sound coming from the A/C vents? Why is the sound concentrated around me, and not playing all over? Takes a little getting used to, but it's very, very worth it!

The additional damping (around 50 sq.ft of it in total now) has made a huge difference. Not a vibration or rattle to be felt, even at the loudest of volumes. Cabin feels super enclosed!

End of the day, I am happy. I spent a fair bit on this upgrade, but I think it was worth it. I love cars, I love music, and I spend a fair amount of time in the driving seat. A good audio setup in my car makes sense

My sincere thanks to all those who helped me in this quest of mine, directly and indirectly. Ajay, kumar_ranjan, Karan (Ace6120), Xeta, shuv c, me_sid, vro(7)m, hydrashok, abhinav, frank, LBM... the list is long, and I am sure I left out some names. Thanks guys.

[abhinav.gupta88]

Congrats Man.
Thats a really nice install.

I feel that the tweeters are firing downwards. Is their axis firing downwards? ( centre point), if yes, get it changed the 1st thing.

Mine are a bit downward firing and the imaging is not perfect ( need to get that corrected)

The Carbon tweeter is really great and has a lot of detail attached with it.

All your setup now wants is a 4 channel upgrade.

To the lines of Steg. :P

What HPF and LPF are being run for the Mid bass and the Sub.
Also hope there is no bass boost etc from the amps.


Its really nice to see you are enjoying the setup.
Congrats again.

[planet_rocker]

looks great and i am sure you are enjoying every bit of it.

When do i get to listen to the set-up?

[vrooooooom]

Hey..pretty neat job must say. Get well soon. We are all eagerly waiting for a demo
In between, how much did the install cost?

[live2drive]

Congrats razor! The install looks brilliant.
The MDF plank to mount the amps has almost isolated the sub to the cabin. Has any hole been drilled in the parcel tray to act as a port for the bass to travel inside the cabin?

[Wimwian]

Wowowow!!! Can't wait to get an audition - where can I catch you Razor singh-ji? Lemme see... there's talk of a bank strike on thurs, might not have to wait for the weekend thanks to our dear comrades

Oh, and many many congrats! That's one dream combo you have there.

[NOS Power]

Great work razor. Waiting to listen to this setup.

[razor4077]

Thanks guys

Originally Posted by live2drive

The MDF plank to mount the amps has almost isolated the sub to the cabin. Has any hole been drilled in the parcel tray to act as a port for the bass to travel inside the cabin?

No holes needed - the sub's effect is more than enough as is. In fact, I've had to keep the gains real low to prevent it from dominating the setup!

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

I feel that the tweeters are firing downwards. Is their axis firing downwards? ( centre point), if yes, get it changed the 1st thing.

Mine are a bit downward firing and the imaging is not perfect ( need to get that corrected)

You're right, the tweeters do point down a bit, but that has not affected the imaging. While doing the TA measurements with a measuring tape (the stiff variety) I observed that the tweeter axis is pointing approximately at the chest level of the passenger in the opposite seat. Keep in mind that the seating in the Lancer is a little, well, laid back! All that aside, I haven't noticed any loss in definition, and this positioning keeps them a little less "in-your-face", which I prefer.
Maybe this isn't text-book, but hey - it works for me